Armchair Observatory....for the Feeble(minded?).Posted By Larry Stange |
Am in the process of constructing an observatory that is not used outdoors. Being lazy, the idea is to use a telescope indoors without dealing with mosquito's, the wind, & cold.
Preliminary tests using a common bedsheet uncut proved very satisfactory although one mosquito sneaked in. Now I'm in the final stages of construction in which the next step is my wifes sewing skills.
Using a window screen with screen removed, 4 yards of black rayon of good strength was purchased and cut into (4)36" wide, 44 inch long rectangles which had each of the long sides recut to form a pyramid with a 6" flat at the peak.
These four panels will be sewn together, edge to edge. The base of the now 4 sided pyramid will be set inside the frame channel with rubber just as a screen is constructed.
After placing the frame assy in a second story southern window the center(peak) of the pyramid is pulled indoors and slipped over the telescopes objective lens hood. Extra folds are either taped temporarily or a chain of rubber bands is used to keep the folds back from obscuring the objective lens when traversing the telescope from side-to-side and up and down.
The raw bedsheet proved itself during the intermittant clearing between rain clouds and rain. It blocked the cold wind well too but passed too much reflected light from inside the room through and off of the white sheet.
This assy is being used for CCD imaging on computers and is another science first. The 200" Lick Observatory will probably be interested in trying this emmediately.
Preliminary tests using a common bedsheet uncut proved very satisfactory although one mosquito sneaked in. Now I'm in the final stages of construction in which the next step is my wifes sewing skills.
Using a window screen with screen removed, 4 yards of black rayon of good strength was purchased and cut into (4)36" wide, 44 inch long rectangles which had each of the long sides recut to form a pyramid with a 6" flat at the peak.
These four panels will be sewn together, edge to edge. The base of the now 4 sided pyramid will be set inside the frame channel with rubber just as a screen is constructed.
After placing the frame assy in a second story southern window the center(peak) of the pyramid is pulled indoors and slipped over the telescopes objective lens hood. Extra folds are either taped temporarily or a chain of rubber bands is used to keep the folds back from obscuring the objective lens when traversing the telescope from side-to-side and up and down.
The raw bedsheet proved itself during the intermittant clearing between rain clouds and rain. It blocked the cold wind well too but passed too much reflected light from inside the room through and off of the white sheet.
This assy is being used for CCD imaging on computers and is another science first. The 200" Lick Observatory will probably be interested in trying this emmediately.
